any recs of anime or manga with butch characters? ive seen all the standard ones like sailor moon, oniisama e (rei is always on my mind), and standard yuri animes. i just would love to see more masculine female characters :/
i’m butch myself, so seeing this in my inbox made me smile. but before address the question, i want to cover my bases and clarify a couple of points first:
“butch” as a wlw identity doesn’t really exist in japan the same way it does in like, america for instance. the japanese lgbt scene has its own identities, roles, and lexicon which are embedded within the history of japanese lgbt people. while the terms “neko” and “tachi” are often mistranslated as “fem(me)” and “butch”, they aren’t actually the same thing, and have completely separate histories and social contexts in which they exist.
however, you seem to be using the term butch here to loosely mean “masculine woman”, rather than as a wlw identity/role, so i’m gonna follow your lead. generally speaking, women’s masculinity in japan has a very different history and set of standards than that of western butchness. japanese masc women, as a result, don’t present the same way as western masc women, and so in many cases they may not read the same way to a western reader as they would to a japanese one. stuff like that is important to keep in mind when looking at how masculinity in women is portrayed in japanese media.
as an aside, i generally dislike the use of the descriptor “masculine female” to define “butch”, as it can be interpreted as exclusionary to butch trans women. while obviously trans women are as female as any other woman, there’s significant precedent for terfs using the term “masculine female” as a catch-all which homogenizes masculine cis women, nonbinary people, and trans men while simultaneously excluding trans women entirely. so i tend to be pretty careful on how i use terms like “male” and “female” in this context.
with all of that being said:
my #1 rec is obviously gonna be revolutionary girl utena, the anime (moreso than the manga, which while due plenty of credit as the source material, is bogged down so much by chiho saitou’s own heteronormativity that it fails to reach its own narrative potential; this is a rare case where the anime adaptation is leagues above the source material in quality). that is, if you haven’t already seen it (not sure whether it falls under your definition of “standard”). the crux of the show is about deconstructing the role of womanhood and its impact on those who live within that role’s relationships both with men and with other women. it is, in my opinion, an indispensable work of art.
similarly, you should definitely check out rose of versailles by riyoko ikeda if you haven’t read/watched it already (you may well have, if you’ve already read oniisama e). it’s not a yuri (unfortunately...it should have been smdh) although it is a staple of the dansou theme in manga, and takes much inspiration from the yuri genre; the female lead oscar, who has lived her whole life within the “male” role, has a very romantic friendship with her friend/mentee rosalie.
golondrina by est em is definitely worth checking out too; the main character is a masc lesbian pursuing the traditionally male-dominated sport of bullfighting, but it isn’t focused on romance (although it does come up, especially later in the series). some might fund the subject matter questionable, although the ethical concerns surrounding bullfighting are discussed, the way it’s romanticized by the main characters is bound to make some people uncomfortable.
i also highly recommend you check out ebine yamaji’s yuri manga, pretty much all of which feature somewhat more “tomboyish” bi women or lesbian main characters. love my life is her most well known work, and it’s my all time favorite work of hers as well. they’re less overtly masculine, and i doubt any would self-describe as such. still, it fits the bill close enough and i can’t resist recommending ebine yamaji every chance i get, so sue me.
tsuki to suppin is another yuri manga you might like, with one of the main characters being rather tomboyish, particularly relative to her more feminine girlfriend. although like with ebine yamaji, it’s more androgyny-based and isn’t the sort of “masculinity” readily intelligible with butchness. if you like soft lesbian slice of life this is a great manga to check out.
karubania monogatari by tono also fits the bill, and is not dissimilar in many ways to rose of versailles as far as both the old-fashioned political elements of its setting and the princely (well, duke-ly) role of the main lead, although i recommend it much more hesitantly than the above, because it has some majorly problematic elements that ultimately lead me to drop the series, but you’re still welcome to give it a go.
to note a couple of non-manga graphic novels from other countries that fit this bill as well:
the manhua tamen de gushi has a distinctly masc/fem lesbian couple as its primary focus. it’s very slow-burn and generally inexplicit, at least in part due to having to circumvent chinese censorship laws, but is still a very sweet read and the characters are very likeable.
the american graphic novel roadqueen by mira ong chua also centers on a masc/fem lesbian couple, and takes a huge amount of inspiration from the yuri tradition, as well as women’s biker gangs. it’s action-packed and a ton of fun.
ah, that’s all i can think of for now. hope this helps!
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